Lila Stromer, Freelance Copyeditor, New York

Lila Stromer is a 63-year-old copyeditor who has owned her own freelance business for the past 11 years. When her W2 job as the managing editor of an academic journal ended, she only wanted another “good” W2 job. But after freelancing for six months and finding no one wanted to hire an older woman, she realized she loved freelancing. Over the years, her clients have referred her to others and not one of her clients cares about her age. Yet the DOL’s 6 factors could end her successful freelance business and instead leave her with no way to make a living. Lila is too young for Social Security and in her experience, her age is a factor in companies hiring her. Not that she wants to return to W2 work.

With the Department of Labor proposed rule change, just one of her main concerns is that none of the 6 factors have been clearly defined by the DOL. Lila worries that Factors 3 and 5 could end her business for being overly broad. “For example, Factor 3 is ‘degree of permanence’, which is vague and undefined,” she argues. “I have had one of my clients since the very beginning of my freelancing career, yet I only edit for them twice a year. Is that “permanent” because it has continued for over a decade, even though there isn’t much work? Or is it the more recurring clients from whom I earn most of my income? What counts as permanence? Is it based on amount of income from a client? If so, that means the DOL would be forcing me to earn less from my more active clients.”

“The DOL has created a regulation that is clear as mud and without any clarity on what their own terms mean,” she explains. “This regulation must not pass because its purposeful lack of transparency will hurt freelancers.” Without clarity on how these 6 factors are defined, Lila fears that her ability to support herself and her family will be stripped away from her when the government decides that she’s not followed some factor, even though they have not been clearly defined.